Tale of Cole: First of a LEGO Ninjago Trilogy
by TLFScarheart12
Summary: Cole tells Kai about his early training and what he learned after facing a Kaiden.
1. Chapter 1: I Will be the Best

Sensei Wu shook his head at his latest student, still trying to work his way up to the status of the others. Zane, ninja of ice, Cole, ninja of earth, and Jay, ninja of lightning, treated Kai, ninja of fire as an equal, but Sensei Wu knew he still had not learned the patience needed to become as good a ninja as them.

"Enough!" Sensei Wu called to his pupils. "Training is over for today. and Kai you really must try to control the fire with in. patience with a fire can cook a meal. impatience can cause the forest to burn." With that Sensei picked up his tea set and headed into the Dojo.

Kai took off his mask and stood there feeling dejected. It was as if Sensei Wu didn't care about his skill improvement at all. All he cared about was patience.

Kai looked up feeling a friendly hand on his shoulder. The hand belonged to Cole. all three of them were unmasked and looking at him as if they shared his pain.

"Don't let Sensei upset you. He only wants to help you become the best ninja you can be." said Zane.

"If it help you feel any better we all had to learn some sort of trait or virtue or life skill to help us too." said Jay, as usual adding as many details as he could.

"Really?" Kai asked, turning to them.

All of them nodded, even Cole who normally would not verbally admit a weakness.

"Didn't expect to see a nod from you Cole," Kai teased.

"Believe me Kai, I used to be MUCH worse, when it came to this sort of thing. When Sensei first found us my only goal was being the absolute best, I had to learn that being the best doesn't mean being part of the team..."

***  
>Cole, Jay, and Zane stood in the dojo courtyard. Waiting for Sensei Wu to start their first lesson.<p>

Cole's eyes were glued on the door Sensei told them he would step out of.. He payed no mind the the two next to him. he would be better than them. He would prove himself to be the best. That is until the one named Jay opened his mouth.

"I wonder what the Sensei will make us do first? Maybe chop wood with our hands, or maybe throw shurikens, or maybe-" he rambled on and on adding motions to what he described until eventually one move made him lose his balance and fall over.

Cole shook his head and did his best to block Jay out. How could he be so enthusiastic. Jay should know he would lose to him.

At last Sensei Wu walked out holding the same tea set he had when they met. He pressed a hidden button and opened a huge training area.

"I sense he won't wait for us to start to begin his timing. we must act as soon as he instructs us," Zane warned.

"You have a sixth sense?" Jay asked impressed.

Zane nodded.

Not good Cole thought, that puts points in his favor. I'll have to double my effort.

"Complete the course before I finish my cup of tea," Sensei Wu commanded.

The Ninjas in training took off but none of them got first dodging the swinging balls and were all knocked to the ground.

"Fail" said Sensei Wu. After several more failed tries he added to this, "You may try again tomorrow."

Cole frowned, and got up watching the others.

Zane helped Jay to his feet. "This was a bad day," he said.

"No better than any of us. I've got some cooking skills up my sleeve. how does a a nice teriyaki dinner sound to ease the pain?" Jay offered smiling.

"That's a good idea," Zane replied.

Cole was disgusted. They were trying to be friends? Surely Sensei Wu was looking for the best of the three, not a team. 


	2. Chapter 2: A Dishonorable Action

"So you thought that Sensei wanted to find the best out of you three?" Kai asked.

The training equipment had been put away by now and the ninjas sat in a circle on the ground of the now empty courtyard of the dojo.

"My whole life until that point had been about competition. Nothing else made sence to me," Cole said looking down. "But that was just the beginning. To this day I regret whet my competitive nature lead me to do, and not just because I cheated."

"That's an understatement!" Jay exclaimed," if that had happened any differently Zane and I could well have forgotten about being ninjas all together! We'd barley be able to walk!"

"That was not what Cole wanted though," Zane reminded Jay, "And there's no reason to get angry now. Past is past. Cole learned his lesson"

"What did you do, Cole?" Kai asked anxiously.

Cole sighed and continued his story.

Several weeks passed. Each day they got a little better. Cole pushed himself to the limit and improved slightly faster than the others, but they were still to close to his level for Comfort. Cole had to push them back some how.

Meanwhile Jay and Zane had become good friends despite their very opposite natures. They had been helping each other train, chatting, though Jay did most of the talking, and basically socializing. From time to time they tried to include Cole, but Cole refused to talk to them except to point out ones weaknesses to the other hoping a break in the friendship would weaken them. But it was an impossible task. he's have to bring them down some other way.

Then one day in training the seemingly perfect idea came. Cole dodge a swinging ball and noticed Jay and Zane in the perfect position. Without thinking he gave the next ball a hard kick. The ball broke loose from its chain and flew towards the two other ninjas. Only just in time did Jay and Zane see it and jump out of the way. the ball landed harmlessly in the dirt.

"Enough!" Sensei Wu shouted standing. He hadn't even started to sip his timing tea yet, "I am ashamed of you Cole. Letting your competitive nature allow you to try to hurt to allies. You re lucky I don't throw you out of this Dojo here and now. Instead you must put the ball back on without help. Even that is too good for you,"

With that Sensei Wu returned into the Dojo. Training was over for the day

Cole walked over to the fallen ball and crouched down. he was about to lift it when Jay came over towering him.

"What in Emma-sama's name was that about?" He asked crossly. "Those balls move at a speed to prevent serious injury. When you kicked it it went way to fast! You could have really hurt Zane and me! Crippled us in fact."

"Leave him alone Jay," Zane said, "I sense he does not want to be a team with us. I suggest we let him have his wish for now."

The two returned into the temple. Cole sighed and lifted the ball. It took all his might to get it back into position. His arms ached afterwards as he went back inside. He realized what Jay was saying was true. The consequence would have been awful if it had hit the others. Cole shook his head. He wanted to get ahead, but he certainly didn't want to hurt Jay and Zane. Just make them look lass good in front of Sensei Wu. Now all he had done was lost points for himself. No way would Sensei Wu choose him for the best now.

Sighing he returned to the Dojo. "I'll just have to redeem myself," Cole told himself, "I'll work even harder in training tomorrow, I'll show the honest way that I'm the best.


	3. Chapter 3: Ghost in the Village

Kai stared at Cole in shock. Cole had always been one to look after the other's backs in a time of danger. Surely he would never do anything that could have hurt Jay and Zane.

Cole avoided everyone's gaze. Kai could tell he felt awful about what he had done. Finally Cole spoke.

"I know now that what I did was wrong. I deserved a much worse punishment than Sensei gave me."

"So what happened next?" Kai asked, "How did you finally learn to act as a team?"

"A kaiden," Cole answered.

Kai's eyes widened. Kaidens were evil ghosts sworn on vengeance. But he had only heard of them in folklore.

Of course, he thought, I had only heard of dragons from folklore as well and now I have befriended not 1 but 4 of those! What's keeping anything else from being real?

"You had to fight one?" Kai asked.

"Cole nodded and continued his story.

***  
>The next day the 3 ninjas in training waited in the courtyard for their next day of training to begin. Cole's sore arms felt like lead after the day before. But he had to push past that. He had to be the best. He had to be the one Sensei Wu picked.<p>

But Sensei Wu did not come out with his usual tea set. Instead he had ninja outfits for the three of them and a grim expression on his face.

"Today," he said slowly, "You begin your first field task as ninjas. A Kaiden has been spotted in the local village. It seems to have a connection with a certain doll. The doll must be broken before the spirit is dealt with. But it will not let anyone near the doll."

"This," he added, "Will be your final test. To prove yourself worthy of ninjas you bust destroy this doll." With that he returned inside the Dojo.

Cole frowned. This was his chance to prove himself the best. All he had to do was smash a doll.

He and the others changed and made their way to the village that the dojo normally got supplies from. The locals were able to point the rest of the way and explain that the Kaiden was thought to be a noble woman who had died in a failed attempt to save her child's life. The one responsible had already been punished severely, but the woman had placed the child's spirit into the doll and was guarding it fiercely, though the child simply wanted to cross over peacefully.

The three entered the house of the noble woman quietly. It seemed peaceful yet at the same time uneasy.  
>"I sense," Zane whispered, "that the villagers are right. The kaiden will be more angry once the doll is broken. We must use great caution after the job is done."<p>

Cole darted in keeping to the shadows. Each with each movement he made sure he was concealed and it brought him closer to the doll.

Jay and Zane watched from the door ready to spring in if there was danger. The room was too small for all three of them to use stealth together.

Finally Cole was close enough. He lunged out of the shadows and grabbed the doll landing silently in the shadows of the other side of the room.

Then it happened! Cole felt hands as cold as chilled glass wrap around his throat tight. Cole struggled to get air past the grip. As his vision began to blur he was the face of a pale and badly beaten woman with long, dirty, unkept black hair. The woman stared at Cole though piercing, unnatural eyes. She wore a funeral kimono, pure white.

The others must have seen it too, because Jay shouted Cole's name in worry.

The kaiden, not having noticed the two others before looked and lost some of the strength in it's grip. Cole gasped the air he needed and took this moment to smash the doll on the floor. The kaiden heard this and not only began to squeeze tighter on Cole's throat but everything in the room began to fly towards cole. most of them missed but one object that Cole didn't see hit his foot forcing it further back than what was natural.

"HEY!" Jay was now inside the room shouting at the kaiden, "Over here you dirty, dead, slimy, cold, disgusting...uh oh..." he quickly dodged as the kaiden ran towards him only to crash into the wall that was behind Jay.

Zane knelt in front of Cole.

"Can you move?" he asked urgently.

"I can't stand up. I hurt my ankle," Cole told him.

Careful not to hurt Cole further, Zane lifted him and dashed towards the exit. They, along with Jay, barely made it to the safe zone outside the house.

Cole's ankle was searing with pain. He knew he would not be able to stand on it for a while. He sighed. Still he had done it. He had smashed the doll. He was better than the other too. Now the only question was how to get back to the Dojo to tell Sensei Wu.

Before he had much time to think, his answer came. Zane sat him on a large rock and asked which ankle he had hurt. Cole hung his left leg out a bit and Jay gently took off his tabi boot and looked at his ankle.

"I don't think it's broken but it sure looks painful. Bruised to say in the least. And I mean the VERY least. You need to Keep off that foot for a while. We'll carry you back the Dojo," Jay said.


	4. Chapter 4: Understanding At Last

"So Jay and Zane saved your life," Kai said smiling.

Cole nodded, "Not only that but they made sure I got back the the Dojo safely. I was a bit confused though. In my eyes they easily could have gone back themselves and taken the credit."

"Of course we'd never do that," said Jay, "Credits should be given where credits are due, at all times, no matter what, even when-"

"I think he gets the point, Jay." Zane interrupted him.

"So you got back to the temple and then what?" Kai asked.

"Well," Cole said slowly, "with my ankle injured I couldn't really do much. The first day after the injury was awful...until Jay and Zane came to talk..."

Cole lied back on his sleeping pallet staring up at the ceiling. He was not only bored but he wanted desperately to know who Sensei Wu had chosen to be the best and most worthy to be a ninja. So far no one had told him to leave, but Sensei Wu may have simply been waiting until he could walk again out of pity. Cole sighed. He hated people feeling sorry for him.

His thoughts were interrupted by his door sliding over. Jay and Zane stepped in with some lunch for him. Cole sat up accepted it gratefully.

"How's your ankle?" Zane asked.

Cole shrugged, "It hurts. Not as bed as yesterday though. You two really shouldn't have carried me back though."

"You couldn't get back on your own, Cole. We couldn't just leave you there," Jay said.

"But you two could have taken the credit. Sensei would have chosen you two without a moments thought." Cole argued.

"Chosen us?" Zane asked cocking an eyebrow.

"Chosen you to be the best of us. To be the one worthy to be a ninja," Cole explained.

Zane and Jay stared at Cole for a moment before Jay finally broken the awkward silence, "That's what your attitude was about you thought this was a contest? That's why you've been such a loner? Why you point out weaknesses? Why you tried to smash us with a giant ball?"

"In my defense I wasn't trying to hurt you with the ball," Cole said, "but yes,"

Jay shook his head laughing, "You got it all wrong. Sensei isn't trying to choose among us. He already chose us all!"

"Sensei wants us all to build as a team. And while I can understand you wanting to be the best, being such won't help you become what Sensei wants," Zane further explained.

Cole looked at them in shock. How did he get that so mixed up. In fact what Zane and Jay were telling him made everything that had happened make much more sense.

"I'm sorry," he told them looking down, humbling himself for the first time in years, "What you're saying makes sense. I was wrong to treat you two like I did...especially with cheating and making the ball fly at you two."

"That basically it," Cole concluded, "Once my ankle healed I was able to go back to training and doing ninja work. This time I worked with Zane and Jay, and promised to myself that I'd always have their backs. And I'ved one my best to keep that promise since."

"As you've seen we've mad quite a strong team. And no matter what Sensei says, you are helping us make it stronger," Zane added.

"Thanks" Kai smiled.

"Lets go in," said Jay standing, "It's getting late, and I'm thinking sashimi for dinner,"


End file.
